Remaining part of old Union Ice & Fuel warehouse is torn down

The old downtown Union Ice & Fuel warehouse joined the list of extinct historic buildings in Colorado Springs sometime last week.
Since late May, the jaws of a tractor have been slowing gnawing away at the 1907 warehouse at the corner of Vermijo and Sahwatch avenues. The first part to come...

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+ captionThe only thing left standing from the recently demolished Union Ice Warehouse is this cool, old piece of machinery. Photo by JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE

Since late May, the jaws of a tractor have been slowing gnawing away at the 1907 warehouse at the corner of Vermijo and Sahwatch avenues. The first part to come down was the brick ice house, and sometime last week the remaining part of the structure, a stone boiler room, was torn down.

The building was used to process ice as well as provide steam heat for surrounding buildings, which were demolished years ago. It had been vacant since 2006. It was purchased six months ago by Olson Plumbing & Heating Co., and was demolished to create outdoor storage space.

After a brief intervention last month by a local politician, destruction of the building stopped. Olson Plumbing & Heating owner Mike Trapp agreed to give City Councilmember Tim Leigh a few days to raise money that would cover the cost of the building and its restoration.

But Leigh could not obtain the money, and demolition was supposed to continue as planned, although a month passed before the boiler room was torn down.

On Monday, Trapp could not be reached for comment, and no one in the Olson office could confirm which day the building was demolished.